Pompano Beach is currently in the middle of a redevelopment process to revitalize its beachfront and historic downtown.[9] The city has also been listed as one of the top real estate markets, being featured in CNN, Money and the Wall Street Journal as one of the country’s top vacation home markets. Pompano Beach Airpark, located within the city, is the home of the Goodyear BlimpSpirit of Innovation.[10][11]

Its name is derived from the Florida pompano (Trachinotus carolinus), a fish found off the Atlantic coast.[12]

There had been scattered settlers in the area from at least the mid-1880s, but the first documented permanent residents of the Pompano area were George Butler and Frank Sheene and their families, who arrived in 1896 as railway employees.[13] The first train arrived in the small Pompano settlement on February 22, 1896.[13] It is said that Sheene gave the community its name after jotting down on his survey of the area the name of the fish he had for dinner. The coming of the railroad led to development farther west from the coast. In 1906 Pompano became the southernmost settlement in newly created Palm Beach County.[13] That year, the Hillsboro Lighthouse was completed on the beach.[13]

On July 3, 1908, a new municipality was incorporated in what was then Dade County: the Town of Pompano.[11]John R. Mizell was elected the first mayor.[11][13] In 1915, Broward County was established, with a northern boundary at the Hillsboro Canal. Thus, within eight years, Pompano had been in three counties.[11] Pompano Beach experienced significant growth during the Florida land boom of the 1920s.

Following the population boom due to World War II, in 1947 the City of Pompano merged with the newly formed municipality on the beach and became the City of Pompano Beach.[3][11] In 1950, the population of the city reached 5,682. Like most of southeast Florida, Pompano Beach experienced great growth in the late 20th century as many people moved there from northern parts of the United States. A substantial seasonal population also spends its winters in the area.

Pompano Beach is in northeastern Broward County along the Atlantic Ocean. It includes about 3 miles (5 km) of beachfront, extending from the intersection of State Road A1A and Terra Mar Drive to the Hillsboro Inlet. The city is bounded by the following municipalities:

As of 2010, there were 55,885 households, of which 24.5% were vacant. As of 2000, 17.4% of households had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.4% were married couples living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.6% were non-families. 38.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.13 and the average family size was 2.85.

In 2000, the city the population was spread out with 17.7% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 29.1% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 23.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 97.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.2 males.

In 2000, the median income for a household in the city was $36,073, and the median income for a family was $44,195. Males had a median income of $31,162 versus $26,870 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,938. About 13.1% of families and 17.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.1% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over.

As of 2010, Italian-Americans made up 8.5% of the population, forming the second largest ancestry group in the city.[16]

As of 2010, before annexation of other areas, Pompano Beach has the highest concentration of residents of Haitian ancestry in the country, at 9.3% of the population.[17] while it had the percentage of Brazilians in the US, at 2.67%,[18]

Collier Manor-Cresthaven had speakers of English as their first language at 72.54%, Spanish at 16.92%, Haitian Creole 6.88%, French at 1.40%, Italian at 1.12%, and Portuguese at 1.12% of residents.[21]

Leisureville: As of 2000, speakers of English as a first language accounted for 86.24% of all residents, while speakers of French Creole accounted for 10.05%, and speakers of German as a mother tongue made up 3.70% of the population.[22]

In recent years, an effort to rejuvenate rundown areas near the city’s beach has gained momentum and has stimulated a multibillion dollar building boom. Community redevelopment agencies were established for the East Atlantic/Beach corridor, as well as for the old downtown and Hammondville/Martin Luther King corridor.[11]

Local parks include Pompano Park and Fern Forest Nature Park. There are also many smaller parks throughout the city of Pompano Beach, these parks are, Kester Park, Cresthaven Park,Harbors Edge Park, Scott Meyers Memorial Park, and many others.

In 2004, John Rayson became the first elected mayor of Pompano Beach. Prior mayors had been selected by city commissioners from among themselves. The vice-mayor continues to be selected by city commissioners from among themselves.